Forget 'Johnny Football,' Texas A&M's Manziel is now 'Johnny Heisman'

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Dec 8, 2012; New York, NY, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel addresses the crowd after being announced the winner of the 2012 Heisman Trophy at the Best Buy Theatre in downtown New York City.

Editorial: Manziel comes off as reasonably normal

It didn’t take long for Texas A&M-produced ads to proclaim the young man we knew as “Johnny Football” was now “Johnny Heisman.” As ESPN notes, “Schools used to spend money on trying to win their player the Heisman Trophy. Now they spend money once their player has won it.”

Here is an early version of our editorial headed for print Monday:

The line, in various forms, appeared in movies from Braveheart to Road House: “I thought you’d be bigger.” That’s what folks in real life often say upon meeting Johnny Manziel, whose “Johnny Football” legend has far exceeded his 72 inches in height.

Deservedly so, we might add.

In an era when college football players are the biggest men on campus and quarterbacks prototypically look down on 6-feet tall, Manziel comes off as reasonably normal. His eyes set a bit too close and his nose a bit large for his face, he looks for all the world like that nice young man from your school or church or who works down at the Tom Thumb.

But put him in a Texas A&M helmet, pads and jersey with a ball in his hands, and he’s college football’s most outstanding player, as judged by this year’s 928 voters for the 78th Heisman Trophy.

Much has been — and will be — written and said about Manziel becoming the first freshman to win the Heisman, the most premier of the game’s phalanx of awards. In truth, the changing nature of the college game, with the very best players often leaving early for the NFL, has thinned the pool of potential senior winners. The last senior to win a Heisman was Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith in 2006.

Still, Manziel’s closest competitors this year were two seniors, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o and Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein. Either, in another year, would have been a worthy recipient. Against Johnny Football, it really was no contest in the voters’ eyes.

The numbers only validated the legend. Manziel passed for 3,419 yards and 24 touchdowns and ran for 1,181 yards and 19 more scores. That added up to a Southeastern Conference record for total offense and, more importantly, fueled the Aggies’ 10-2 record in their SEC debut year.

The Johnny Football mystique grew in relative silence. First-year coach Kevin Sumlin prohibited freshmen from speaking to reporters, so Manziel’s thoughts remained confined to friends, family and teammates. He put himself on the Heisman map by directing a signature victory at then-No. 1 Alabama in typical Johnny Football style: dodging, darting, throwing and escaping danger.

And when he finally did speak, he was just as impressive, with a combination of poise, humility and down-home humor. It’s a little hard to imagine that he turned 20 only Thursday, the night he accepted the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s top quarterback.

Manziel, a Tyler native who starred at Kerrville Tivy High School, follows Baylor’s Robert Griffin III (Copperas Cove) as the second consecutive Texan to win the Heisman. Griffin’s encore has been all over SportsCenter, as the Washington Redskins’ exceptional rookie quarterback.

For Johnny Football? First, there’s the AT&T Cotton Bowl in Arlington on Jan. 4. After that, he says wants to bring a national championship to College Station — not to mention two or three more years to win another Heisman. Who’s betting against him?